“Judge Dredd: Chaos Day, Part 2”

Writen by John Wagner, art by Henry Flint.

The Sun brings the crack of dawn, but hope gets dimmer for the Judges. One Judge considers quitting. Most of this story has the writer describing the despair of Mega-City One since the Chaos Bug and the struggle for citizens and Judges alike. This ends on a down note: Dredd with head hung low.

Wagner must be setting up some cavalry-style arrival. Nah. I think someone comes up with an antidote to the Chaos Bug. The Judges can’t just shoot their way out of this predicament.

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“Durham Red: The ‘Nobody Wants This Job’ Job, Part 4”

Written by Alan Grant, art by Carlos Ezquerra.

This was a fast read. Red and Jones escape and progress towards Reebok’s Palance of Silence. There, the future-sensing Avi Reebok informs Red that he’s been expecting her.

The story is mostly action sequence which is a welcome change of pace to Dredd’s ruminations. What’s that? Did I just see…a thought bubble?

“Grey Area: One of Our Own, Part 4”

Written by Dan Abnett, art by Lee Carter.

Bulliet, who has been undercover gaining Xenophobian sympathy, decides to save Kymn and the Greeted and kills Foley over apprehending Foley and getting information about the Xenophobe Movement from him. Did Bulliet do the right thing? Yes; there will be another Xenophobe leader and having Kymn alive reduces the need to find a new inexperienced recruit.

“Future Shocks: Downloan”

Written by David Baillie, art by Nick Dyer.

This technobabble-filled tale warns about one aspect of current capitalism: the ability to lease, not own, something. Here, a desperate man tries to extend his time debt. When a possession’s lease runs out, the possession turns to dust.

“Downloan” may not get many people who have a Steam games collection or some Kindle eBooks to turn away from them or even pause about what they’re buying. All we see is not-for-resale gaga? Not quite a dire consumer’s temptation at the moment as physical copies are still popular. Physical media: someone still loves you. For now.

“Nikolai Dante: Sympathy for the Devil, Part 3”

Written by Robbie Morrison, art by Simon Fraser.

Nikolai’s having doubts about being Tsar. He performs carefree leaps and swings to get away from politics to seeing Jena. Nikolai’s dressed in fancy regalia for the wedding but he receives word that Vladimir the Conqueror is still around.

Frasier ably gives us Nikolai’s reasonable expressions from being crushed with the toils of running an empire to relieving joy he gets to do acrobatics to contentment that he’ll marry the woman he loves. Morrison does well moving the plot and handling Nikolai’s mood shifts. Even though I only know him for 3 Progs, I’ll miss that rogue Dante.